Two women from the Irish Republic were also on trial – 35-year-old Sharron Meenan from Dameragh, Fahan, and 52-year-old Jackie McKenna from Sliabhan, Killarogue.

Mr Gallagher was given an 12-month conditional discharge, and Mr King was fined £75 with an £80 compensation order for cleaning the wall he sprayed with paint.

On Tuesday, the court heard there was not enough evidence to convict Rory McDermott, 26, John McMonagle, 65, and Bernard McFadden, 56, all from Derry.

Judge Tom Burgess told the jury he would be directing them to acquit the men of the charges they faced.
‘War crimes’

During the trial, the court heard that after the women were arrested and released, each of the women attended voluntarily to be interviewed by police, and that during police questioning, all of them admitted to breaking into Raytheon in order to cause damage to the main computer server.

The women claimed they had done so in order to protect the lives and property of people in the Gaza Strip and to stop alleged war crimes being committed by the Israeli forces.

Speaking outside court on Friday a spokesperson for the group said they were “grateful to the jury and proud of ourselves”.

“The verdict represents an acceptance that what we did was not a crime but an attempt to prevent crime, a crime against humanity which continues to be inflicted on the people of Gaza by the Israeli defence forces.”

It is not the first time people accused of trying to cause criminal damage to the Raytheon offices have been acquitted.

In 2008, six people, including journalist Eamonn McCann, were found not guilty. They were charged following a protest at Raytheon in August 2006.